Paradise & Elsewhere by Kathy Page

The dark, surprising stories in Kathy Page's Paradise and Elsewhere interweaves reality and myth. Celtic, Greek and biblical threads flicker in and out. Amy Bloom calls this book "moody, shape-shifting, provocative" and I can't think of better words. I was entranced.

There's a universality about the settings. The places are all over the planet, ranging from the seaside to a desert oasis, and from a stony mountain valley to a tropical locale. Each tale is quite short. They address isms - like consumerism, tourism, sexism and colonialism - from new vantage points.

The following is an excerpt from 'My Beautiful Wife'

"What use is a car, Liia says. Books are more important. A car can only take you half as far as the fuel you can pay for lasts, and then you have to come back; but books are infinite journeys and each one can be taken many times."

Paradise and Elsewhere is a journey into the truths of existence.

Readalikes: Diving Belles (Lucy Wood); Jagannath (Karen Tidbeck); and May We Shed These Human Bodies (Amber Sparks).